Both teams came out strong in the first quarter, trading the lead seven times. Sacramento broke out in the second period.

The Monarchs, who lost 85-78 at home in the series opener on Thursday night, went on a 14-2 run. The spurt ended with 2:03 left in the quarter when Kelly's layup made it 45-33. They made 10 of 16 shots in the second quarter (63 percent) and led 48-39 at halftime.

Sacramento keep the pressure on San Antonio all night, holding a double-digit lead throughout the second half. The Monarchs went up by as many as 21 points, leading 84-63 with 1:23 remaining in the game.

The defensive pressure got to the Silver Stars, who committed 22 turnovers that were converted into 20 points by Sacramento.

"I thought we played how we needed to play, free and easy and playing off our defense,'' Monarchs coach Jenny Boucek said. "When we play aggressive and relentless, we are fully into our identity and how we need to play.''

San Antonio, which made 60 percent of its shots in Game 1, couldn't get its offense going. The Silver Stars were 25-of-58 from the field (43 percent) on Saturday.

"I thought they came out and were really physical with us, especially on the basketball,'' Silver Stars coach Dan Hughes said. "We didn't make good decisions at the point of the ball. They are physical with you and create a lot of contact and you have to deal with it.''

Top-seeded San Antonio ousted Sacramento last year in a three-game series that was decided by Vickie Johnson's last-second layup.

The Silver Stars, who went 15-2 at home in the regular season, hadn't lost on their floor since falling to Minnesota on July 19. San Antonio was a league-best 24-10 overall.

"I would like to say we didn't, but obviously we did,'' Hammon said of being overconfident at home. "I think (Sacramento coach) Jenny had more energy than our whole team. We just didn't have any energy and that's unacceptable. We have to fix ourselves before we start looking at anybody else.''

The winner of this series will face Los Angeles or Seattle in the Western Conference finals. Los Angeles leads 1-0 in the series that resumes Sunday at Seattle.